This invention provides a method of forming an improved multi-lumen gastrointestinal tube which may be surgically inserted into a patient's stomach and then threaded downward into the intestine to provide both intestinal stent plication and independently controllable gastric and intestinal decompression. The subject tube comprises a proximal portion which remains external to the patient's body and a distal portion which remains inside the patient's body for a period of up to two weeks during the post-operative healing process. There are preferably four separate lumens in the proximal portion of the subject tube and these lumens extend from the proximal (external) end of the tube into the patient's body. Two of the lumens terminate in the stomach and the other two lumens extend the full length of the subject tube.
The manufacture of any elongated multi-lumen vulcanized elastomeric member having lumens of unequal length is cumbersome and the production costs are correspondingly high. A primary problem is that elongated elastomeric members or tubes are typically made by extrusion processes and these processes are not readily adapted to form members having an abrupt and complex change in any cross-sectional dimension.